Michal Nebeský: AmCham is not here to create democracy, but we are here to support it

One hundred years after the founding of the Czech state, its economic and geopolitical situation has never been as successful or certain as it is today. We all should be concerned about the global threat to democracy, and each of us need to remember that voting is our right, but participating in the political life of the country our responsibility. AmCham will continue to pursue its economic agenda in ways that support democratic consensus, and plans to focus again on procurement as way to improve economic competitiveness and strengthening public trust.

Interview with AmCham President Michal Nebesky

At the start of your homestretch as AmCham president, what is your view of the Czech economy and the world?

“We Czechs have a way of finding something worrying in every situation. Our cynicism about human motivation protected us during the long years of Communism. We might need to be careful about it harming us today.
We should look at some facts. We live in what could be the greatest period of our nation. We have secure borders and independence. We have a military alliance with major powers that gives as great a guarantee of our continued freedom as we have ever had. We have an economy which is among the most dynamic in Europe and the world. We have companies that are competing shoulder to shoulder with American, Chinese, and German competitors for global markets. And now we have Ester Ledecka, who is a symbol for what we have and could become. It is hard to be complete skeptic these days."

“Democracy is always under threat. What is happening today, around the world, did not happen overnight. It is the result of people taking basic individual rights and freedoms for granted, and focusing on their own individual rights in ways that diminish the ability of society to give those rights to others. The real work of democracy occurs between elections when people form groups to pursue and administer the government of their country and their communities. We may focus a little too much on politics here- or who wins elections- and not enough on policy- how the country is governed. The thing that makes democracy strong is remembering that voting is your right, participation is your responsibility. That democracy is not the end itself- which is individual freedom, prosperity and security- but the means to that end. And that the important contribution that every individual can make to democracy is not the pursuit of individual freedom, but the respect of others’ individual freedom as being as worthy as your own.”

That seems a little outside the work of AmCham…

“It is and it is not. We are not here to create democracy or tell the government how a democracy should function, but we are here to support the growth of democracy through our behavior. That is why, when we decided to pursue the reform of public procurement, we created a platform that would contain the views of a cross-section of society, and attempt to negotiate a compromise among them that benefited everyone. And it is why we stepped away from the anti-corruption movement when it became a political contest instead of a policy debate. We will now pick the issue of procurement up again, hopefully with fewer press headlines and attack advertisements. Our aim will be to increase the quality of what is purchased through procurement by setting measurable performance objectives, and stimulating product innovation by demanding high performance.”

Why focus on high performance criteria in public contracts?

“The easy answer is that high performance criteria should lead to better public services: safer and longer lasting highways, better treatment in hospitals, or more comfortable and energy-efficient trams. The more complicated answer is that public contracts account for approximately 17-20% of the GDP. If that part of the economy demands competition based on performance, companies will be spurred to develop better products and services through investment in research. That will build our research industry. And that will create higher value-added in our exports. And that is what our future prosperity depends upon.”